


The Four of Hearts

by ShineyT



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Ghost Hunters, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Real World, Alternate Universe - Urban Fantasy, Analogical is my real brotp - in that they're my otp, Best Friends, But also, DON'T READ TAGS IF YOU DON'T LIKE SPOILERS, ENJOY!!!, Eventual Happy Ending, Eventual Relationships, Eventual Romance, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Ghost!patton, I MEAN STORY SPOILERS, I can't believe I forgot, Just a Thing, M/M, Meet-Cute, Mentions of Myth & Folklore, Nerd!Logan, Platonic Cuddling, Platonic Relationships, Slow Burn, So business as usual, You Have Been Warned, analogical - Freeform, but it's not bad, drama nerd!roman, emo!virgil, eventual ghost hunters, ghost hunter!logan, ghost hunter!virgil, he's also a ghost, hopefully they don't spoil anything, more tags will be added, moxiety is my brotp, nerd!virgil, patton is sunshine and rainbows, seriously if anyone wants to talk about analogical to me i will flail and cry, student!Virgil, student!logan, student!roman, that happens, the ghost hunters show virgil and logan like isn't real, um, which is a bit of a given
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-31
Updated: 2018-09-06
Packaged: 2019-06-19 16:00:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15513381
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShineyT/pseuds/ShineyT
Summary: Logan and Virgil are a team. They study together; they're on debate team together; they watch the stars together. They fight ghosts together too, but they don't tell anyone that. Then one day a kid named Roman bounces into their life and throws it all out of whack.Whatever. If Virgil's by Logan's side, he can get through it all...... Right?





	1. In which we meet Logan and Virgil

**Author's Note:**

> The sunset is making my window glow and I'm feeling sappy today, so here's the first bit of my new Analogical fic.

Logan and Virgil met on the first day of high school when Logan accidentally picked up Virgil's hoodie thinking it was his and realized it was about three sizes too big for him. (Virgil laughed at him for about three minutes straight. Logan found himself transfixed despite his embarrassment).

They became friends when they realized that they both loved the Ghost Hunters show (Logan pointed out the logo on Virgil's hoodie and Virgil hunched his shoulders defensively asking, 'yeah it's cool. So what?' Logan grinned at him, which Virgil came to learn was jumping up and down in Logan terms. At the time, though, Virgil found his heart do something weird in his chest at the sight of the smile).

(Both of them shoved down their feelings. One thought it illogical, the other gross. It wasn't the time for them, anyway).

They sat together in the cafeteria and every lesson they had together. It became an unspoken agreement that they would sit next to each other too (there were far too many neck aches to warrant stretching to watch videos together or do a puzzle when it was just easier to sit together). They studied together and bickered over music and learned how to calm each other down in times of stress (in Logan's case) or heightened anxiety (in Virgil's).

Their first fight occurred when Virgil found Logan's Contemporary Slang Flash Cards and fell to the floor laughing. Logan, upset and angry and embarrassed, shouted at his friend. Unfortunately, he only succeeded in making Virgil laugh more. Feeling frustrated, he stormed out of the room and went downstairs into the kitchen.

They were fourteen at the time, and fourteen year old boys are not known for their empathy and comforting skills. However, when Virgil ventured downstairs and found his best friend sitting morosely at the kitchen table with a jar of Crofter's in his hands and a spoon in his mouth, he did his best. He sat down and looked Logan in the eye and said, "Sorry. I shouldn't have laughed. You don't need to know those dumb words anyway. You know all the big words that the teachers don't even know. Just keep talking how you usually talk, ok?"

"But I want to know what you're talking about."

Virgil ducked his head, hoping Logan couldn't see whatever his face was doing. "Thanks, buddy. That's... That's pretty great of you. I won't laugh again, ok?"

Logan sniffed and nodded. "Ok," he said round a mouthful of Crofter's.

Virgil shook his head. "Wanna go watch Ghost Hunters?"

"Yeah!"

That was the first of many, until slowly, slowly they started recognizing the signs - frustration, stress, anxiety, loneliness, when one had trouble expressing how they felt, when one had difficulty understanding what the other was saying. When one wanted a hug.

They weren't free from the usual difficulties of high school - they were plagued by assignments and deadlines, teachers and peers, rules and dress codes, quizzes and activities... But somehow it was so much more bearable when the other was with them.

Three years down the line, everything changed.


	2. In which we meet Roman

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so this chapter is influenced by Logan's speech patterns because it centres around his thoughts, but it kind of goes into Roman's at times, though not Virgil as much (don't worry, there'll be more of that later on). It also shouldn't be too different from my usual narrative voice :). Anyways, enjoy!!

It was their Junior year and Virgil and Logan were bickering good-naturedly on that Fateful Day™. They were walking through the doors to the school cafeteria and trying to figure out whether they should head over to Logan's or Virgil's that night when Virgil stopped short.

"There's a dude at our table."

Logan looked over. Sure enough, there was indeed a 'dude', as Virgil put it, at their table. Well, as 'theirs' a table as a school cafeteria table could get. No one else had sat with them in all the three years they had gone to the school with the exception of Lisa, and that was only because she would help out with or receive help for one of their assorted shared classes. Logan didn't necessarily  _mind_ her presence... except that she tended to focus more on Virgil rather than both of them, which could be incredibly frustrating. She had claimed that it was because Virgil did not unecessarily complicate things, to which Logan responded with 'have you  _listened_ to him talk about death?' and Virgil responded with 'if you don't understand what he says, I could elaborate for you?' In the end Lisa quit batting her eyelashes at Virgil (because after reading numerous trustworthy sources, such as the wikihow article on how to flirt, Logan concluded that was indeed what she was doing, and that she was trying to woo his friend) and moved back to her previous table.

Logan wasn't quite sure why he was happy she'd stopped flirting with Virgil, only that he was. It was quite disconcerting.

"Someone is joining him," Virgil muttered, pulling Logan out of his thoughts.

Logan and Virgil weren't the only two who were confused at this blatant flouting of social etiquette. Several tables surrounding the one they had previously occupied were whispering curiously to each other.

"I think I know that one," murmured Virgil in either amusement or surprise, indicating towards the one sitting down with his chin. Logan was focusing more on the situation at hand to pay attention, but he filed this carefully away in his brain to look into later.

Logan didn't have time to reply, as the two suddenly ascended into a screaming match.

"THEATRE IS MY LIFE. I CAN'T QUIT! YOU WON'T MAKE ME!"

The person sitting at their table had gotten to his feet. The person standing hissed something back angrily and walked away.

Virgil and Logan glanced at each other. They had a choice now - either go to their usual table, or find somewhere else to sit.

The choice was easy in the end. It would be tough luck finding somewhere else to sit, especially with everyone their age having pre-determined friend groups (or as Virgil continuously referred to them as - cliques, despite Logan's insistence that that made them a clique too. Virgil would then argue that they weren't necessarily exclusive and that if someone did want to join them they theoretically could... To which Logan raised an eyebrow, which translated as ' _really? You would be ok with some stranger sharing our space?'_ Virgil only huffed in response the first time, then conceded verbally the second time, which made Logan grin his happy grin. He had been quite shy about it the first few times, because Virgil always seemed to stare at him a little longer when he smiled his happy grin. After a few more times, he simply concluded that it was a thing Virgil did and just accepted it as one of the many wondrous multitudes his friend contained.  ~~How he failed to notice that Virgil never did it to anyone but him is a mystery~~ ).

They didn't even need to say the words.

"Hey... Ronan... You ok there buddy?" Virgil asked.

 The figure had been slumped over the table, miserably picking at his sandwich. Logan was concerned when he saw the boy's outfit - it was a long white shirt decorated with... were those  _real medals?_   There was a red sash running from his right shoulder to his left hip as well.

Logan was so busy taking stock of the other boy's outfit that he jumped a bit when he suddenly seemed to renew his vigor, straightening haughtily and speaking in ridiculously flamboyant tones. "My name is  _Roman_ , and I am clearly  _not ok_."

 _Roman. A fitting name_ , Logan mused as he took in the outfit and speech patterns once more.  _Or perhaps they are just to fit with the name?_

Either way, he was sitting at their table and he needed to move. "Could you perhaps be not ok somewhere else?"

Roman somehow looked both indignant and wounded at the idea and Virgil... oh no, Virgil had his sympathy face on. To others it simply appeared to be a scowl, but three years had taught Logan many things. "I mean... you could sit with us.. Maybe?" Virgil glanced at him, raising an eyebrow.  _Come on,_ they said.  _Look at him._

Logan huffed and moved to sit down on the other side of the table. Virgil shuffled behind him as well.

"Thank you," Roman said grandly, aiming it at Virgil. "I'm glad  _someone_ is sympathetic to my troubles."

Logan glared and Roman seemed a bit taken aback. He took out his food and passed the apple and cookies to Virgil. The only way to get him to eat healthily was if he was passed something sweet along with it. Virgil, however, did not take out his phone as he normally would. Instead he looked uncertainly at Roman.

"So... You gonna spill the beans or what?"

Logan didn't say anything, but that's just because he was curious as well. Roman  _had_ yelled in front of the entire cafeteria. It was only natural to be inquisitive.

Roman drew himself up as much as he could, which didn't appear to be much, considering he had already been at full height when he was talking. "I have been kicked out the theatre club."

There was a small pause.

"We surmised as such," Logan said. "Did they have enough of your personality?"

Virgil twisted his mouth in an attempt to hide a smile. Logan felt like glowing.

"It was, I'll have you know," replied Roman, though with a touch less fire this time. "I was 'acting like a territorial lion' or something. Completely unfounded."

Virgil and Logan glanced at each other, but politely refrained from saying anything out of courtesy for the other's feelings.

"Well... er... sucks," Virgil said.

"Yes, that's right, it does indeed suck. It sucks a lot. It sucks a - a great deal."

"Well, you can sit here if you like," Logan offered. "So long as you do not make a great deal of mess around you. It is disgusting and just plain disrespectful to make a mess of your food."

Roman, who had a large family and as such had been surrounded by mess his whole life, quickly weighed up the pros and cons of deliberately making a mess. On the one hand, it was in his very nature to defy this ridiculous nerd, but on the other the nerd had a glare worthy of Javert from Les Mis and he didn't really want to have to walk around the cafeteria getting rejected at every other table he tried.

So he nodded and made as dramatic an oath as he could instead. The nerd looked a bit done, but not murderous, so that was a plus. The emo had finished his apple and was wiping off his fingers with a napkin, seemingly not paying attention. Without even looking up, the nerd pushed his cookies towards him, a touch insistantly.

"I assume we will not be partaking in watching the latest episode?"

"We can always watch it later," said Virgil.

"True," the nerd's mouth quirked up. "At my house."

Roman wondered if he was missing something. They seemed to have forgotten he was there.

"Hey, uh, you can watch whatever if you want. Don't mind me. Unless it's-"

The two of them glanced up him in surprise. Maybe they had forgotten he was there after all.

"No," said Logan. "In all probability there is no longer sufficient time to both watch the episode and discuss it afterwards, so we will postpone it until later."

"Yeah, at my house."

"Perhaps... But only, as you say, 'in your dreams'."

Roman leaned back and only stopped himself from falling by hooking his leg around the table leg and probably accidentally kicking the emo in the process. "You're really strange, you know that?"

Logan looked at him disdainfully. Roman grinned back at him. Virgil looked away.

Then something occurred to Roman. "Say, what are your names anyway?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man you have no idea how hard it is to get Roman's speech patterns right - I just want to italicize every other word because he's so dramatic lol  
> It could've been longer, but I want to get the next bit right, so I thought I'd keep it as it is.  
> Anyway, hope you enjoyed it my lovelies!! Feedback is extremely appreciated!! xx


	3. In which Virgil'c confession comes to light (Logan's memories shed light on the plight)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just so you know, the reason you're getting a lot of updates recently is because I'm moving in two days and we won't have wi-fi for ages (like until the 29th kind of ages) so unless I go someplace else, there won't be any way for me to upload :(  
> SO ENJOY IT WHILE IT LASTS MY LOVELIES!! xx

That evening, with Virgil lounging across his bed and Logan at Virgil's desk on his laptop, Virgil spoke up.

"What if Princey decides he wants to stick to our table?"

Logan looked up. The evening shadows were lengthening, but hadn't fully darkened the room yet. He could still see Virgil's face, unsure and questioning.

Logan wasn't stupid. He knew his friend looked around at the other teenagers, with their hordes of friends and their wild parties, and felt insecure. Logan had never felt the need to be 'popular' but he knew Virgil wished he was more like other people. He didn't take offence, of course - he knew his friend's longing was as a result of a childhood cut off from true friendship.

But he also knew that if Roman decided Logan and Virgil weren't worth his time Virgil would be crushed.

Virgil had never been good at making friends. He was nice, but he had... odd interests. Though Logan was strange, he was strange in a way that felt familiar to other people. Virgil was different in a way that stood out even among other so-called different people.

Most people chalked it up to the emo outlook. Lisa had thought it was because he was a 'bad boy with a good heart' (in Logan's mind, anyway). Logan knew better.

It had been two months after they first met that Logan noticed the spiders. Oh, not the patterns on the curtains or the fake ones on Virgil's door. He meant the real ones that had begun to accumulate in the corner of his room.

"Parasteatoda tepidariorum," he said when he noticed Virgil staring at them. His friend appeared worried, and he wanted to assure him that they wouldn't hurt him. "They're completely harmless, though I'm not sure why there are so many in one place. Perhaps I need to clean up a bit more."

Virgil looked at him, a bit confused. They were still getting used to their new friendship and sometimes Logan would say something that Virgil couldn't quite decipher. He decided to elaborate. "The spiders. They're of the scientific name Para-"

"Oh, sorry. No, I got that, it's just... Never mind."

"Are you afraid of spiders? If so, I could move them out into the garden?"

"No." Then Virgil smirked. "Aren't you supposed to be the observant one? I have spiders all over my damn room. Why the heck would I do that if I were scared of 'em?"

"You tell me," said Logan. "You're the one staring at them like you'd never encountered such a creature before."

"No..." Virgil's tone was soft, and far-away. "I was just thinking."

Logan put the incident out of his mind as the conversation moved onto homework, but he could picture the day clearly when Virgil brought it up a few months later.

They were having a sleepover at Virgil's. They had settled down for the night and were sleepy enough to warrant going to bed. They both got ready, and were settling down but Virgil seemed... hesitant. Logan had guessed that something had been on his mind for a while now, but had wanted his friend to open up when he was ready and so had elected not to say anything.

Now it seemed that the time had come.

"Hey, Lo?"

"Yes, Virgil?"

"So... Er - you know Ghost Hunters?"

Logan was surprised. He wondered what the show had to do with his friend's predicament, but decided not to question it. For the time being at least. He nodded in affirmation.

"Well, you know how sometimes... They can't explain the things caught on camera... And Rukia is convinced they're real ghosts. And neither of us can find any evidence to dispute it sometimes either and... Stuff."

Logan tilted his head. Virgil wasn't meeting his eyes from where he sat, hunched on his bed in a faded sweatshirt. He almost seemed like a different person with his eye makeup scrubbed off and his covers pulled up to his lap. "Go on."

"Well, it's... I - Sometimes... Sometimes I see things, and I -" Virgil took a deep breath, then said, all at once, "I can see ghosts, ok?"

Logan blinked. The way his friend was acting made it seemed like his friend was telling the truth but it went against all logic, all the cold, hard facts that Logan worshiped and stuck to when everything else failed.

Logan knew there where things science had tried and failed to explain. And despite only knowing Virgil for half a year, he knew when Virgil was wrapped up in deceit, and when Virgil at least _believed_ he was telling the truth.

"Virgil," Logan said gently. "I don't want to disagree with you without giving you a chance to explain. I can see that waiting for my response is distressing you, so would you... Care to elaborate?"

 "It's why we moved, in the end. I saw one at school and told some kids, but they couldn't see it so they all thought I was crazy... I ended up... not having a lot of people to hang out with for a long time. Then my step-mom - wait, then this ghost started... Staring at me from the edge of our garden. My step-mom saw her too and was concerned. It wasn't doing wonders for my anxiety either. So we all just... up and moved I guess. And we hoped against hope that there'd be none here. Or at least a friendly one, you know? So it wouldn't like stalk me or kill me or anything."

Logan blinked. "Virgil... I - it - this is a lot to take in. I want to believe you , but -"

"Think about it." Virgil turned him, suddenly earnest. "Episode 11, Season 3. There was nothing. The sudden temperature drop, the animals' distress, the  _movement_. What was it, then Logan? How do you explain the figure? You can't - you can't deny that of all the fake ghost sightings or whatever, that that one seemed at least a bit more authentic... And, and the - the season 5 finale, with the blown lights and the bruise! Why would they fake a bruise for an episode, Logan? It was real, we googled it together, remember! And it looked the same throughout the entire thing. Please, Logan, you have to believe me!" And suddenly Virgil's eyes seemed suspiciously shiny to Logan, and something nasty twisted in his stomach.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but... I believe you, Virgil."

Virgil looked thunderstruck. Then he scrunched his eyes together and whispered, "thank you, that - that means a lot, Logan."

Both of them tried to ignore the faint tremble in Virgil's voice, but both of them were glad when Logan clambered out of his sleeping bag and gave him a hug.

 

Back in the present, Logan raised an eyebrow. "Then he can stay," he said in response to Virgil asking about Roman potentially having a permanent seat at 'their' table. "but you're telling him about the ghosts."

Virgil huffed. "Fine," he said, then turned away to hide his smile.

Logan didn't bother hiding his.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I totally stole the scientific name for the spider from google so if it'd wrong u can yell at me in the comments k?
> 
> Also who knew that you spell 'worshiped' with one p? I certainly didn't. Thank you, little red line that appears whenever you make a spelling mistake! I couldn't have done it without ya!
> 
> Have a nice day my lovelies!! xx


	4. In which we watch Logan and Virgil

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sri Lanka was amazing! Hope you enjoy this chapter :D (it's a bit short, but they'll get longer soon, don't worry!)

Logan can't see ghosts. Somehow, he's sure of it. Every so often, they'll go somewhere - a museum, a gallery, the aquarium in the city - and Virgil will turn his head and look at something that Logan just can't see. Logan does his best to draw Virgil's attention away from it, but Virgil hunches a bit more every time. Logan has learnt to just  _talk_ and steam roll on in the hopes that Virgil will get caught up in the conversation and not his being haunted by hauntings. Later on, when they're safe at home, Logan will ask about it and they'll write it down in one of Logan's scrupulous notebooks.

Under Logan's mattress there is a map marking every one of the hauntings they'd come across so far. It was meticulously detailed - time, location, date - and Logan poured over it obsessively, often in the middle of the night when his parents had gone to bed.

Virgil preferred the notebooks. He scoured them often and spent hours googling away possible reasons, possible people that they could be, deaths around the area, criminals around the area (Logan stuck to old books and newspapers instead, though he did admit that the internet was faster. He just didn't trust the authenticity of it.)... Neither of them were often fruitful, but the searches that offered results gave them enough reckless satisfaction that they kept going with it.

Logan couldn't see ghosts, but he could see Virgil's hunger for answers and desperation for  _something_ that made sense. That was enough for him.

 

The next day, they sat at their usual table, side by side. Roman was nowhere to be seen.

Virgil had been extra jittery that morning, then, after Roman's absense had become apparent, he became downcast, so Logan distracted him by pulling his hood over his head. To retaliate, Virgil flicked Logan's glasses. Soon, there was a bit of a tussle and a lot of laughter.

Someone cleared their throat above them.

"Oh. Hey," said Virgil. His hands fluttered a bit over the table, which Logan interpreted as 'please go away'. He shared the sentiment by pushing his glasses further up his nose and glaring.

It was a young person of questionable gender and intention, eyes shifting from side to side as they tossed a piece of paper on the table, muttered, "that drama dude paid me to give you this," then stalked off.

Both of them at stared at it for a bit, not quite sure what to do. Eventually, Virgil hesitantly unfolded it so they could read it together.

 _Hey nerds,_ it read.  _I'm in detention. Any chance you could sneak me some food?_

Logan wasn't sure what the standards were for friendship, seeing as he only had one definite friend, but it seemed as if Roman was comfortable enough with them to request for food. This was more comfort than most other students had ever shown around them and as such it seemed... that... Roman wanted to be their friend.

Interesting.

Beside him, Virgil was almost buzzing with excitement. He did his best to keep it contained, but he was neither scowling, nor had his arms folded. Logan smiled at him.

"Let's go take that pompous prince some food, shall we?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I typed 'his friend's' then typed in 'Virgil' instead of 'friend' and it became 'his Virgil's' and honestly I was tempted to leave it like that...


	5. In which we see friendships developed and friends missed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! I'm back! And now accepting alternative ideas for the name of the show because I can't believe I, the successor to Patton in the art of pun-making, cannot come up with a single better idea than "Ghost Hunters".  
> So pwetty pwease can you help??

Logan was scowling as he strode down the hallway. This was not unusual - he was usually scowling. However, it was often softened by Virgil's presence, or at least directed away from the people in the corridor.

But Virgil was not here today.

The students parted for him like they were the same poles of a magnet. The younger students were simply terrified of his scowl, while the older ones whispered about 'that complete psychopath'. Logan absently hoped no one in school died while he was here. If they did, everyone would surely point fingers at him and Virgil.

He got to the cafeteria and sat down forcefully in his usual place. Roman plopped down across from him.

"Woah, why so glum? I thought that was Virgil's job."

Logan's scowl intensified. "Well, he's not here. So I'm taking over."

"Oh," said Roman. He'd sat with them everyday for the past two months after they'd brought him food in his detention for punching the same student who'd kicked him out of the theatre group.

Logan sent off a quick text to his friend.

"Why?"

"Why what?" Logan asked, taking out his lunch.

"Why isn't he in, Slow Lo?"

"Oh," echoed Logan, staring morosely at his apple and chocolate bar. "He's away for a band competition."

"Mr Anx Pants is in a  _band_? Why didn't either of you _tell_ me?"

"Give me a second, Roman," Logan murmured as his phone revealed a new message.

When he finally looked up, Roman looked sad. "Roman... Are you alright?"

Roman forced a smile. "Of course! I'm fine!"

Logan hesitated. He was clearly not fine. "Well... I just texted Virgil to ask if we could come over after school when he gets back... That is, if you'd like to?"

Roman's false smile became a grin. "I'd love to!"

***

Roman had made his way happily enough into the cafeteria. Ever since being kicked out of the theatre he hadn't had much to occupy his time. No rehearsals to go to, no theatre friends to hang out with, no scripts to study... He'd grown bored of video games after two days and his grades were the best they'd been his entire school career because he had  _nothing else to do._ His only source of comfort was his two new friends..

Though upon seeing how downcast Logan was (he'd realized that different scowls meant different things) and learning about Virgil's absence, he was reminded all over again how much of an outsider he really was here.

Of course, they were nice to him, and each was fascinating in his own way. But they had had three years of friendship and he had two months.

He didn't even know their surnames yet.

And Virgil was in a  _band_? That was  _so cool!_ Why didn't he know all of this? Why didn't they tell him?

"Give me a second, Roman," Logan muttered. Roman could feel himself drooping. He hated when he was drenched in insecurity like this. He liked Logan, he did, but he couldn't help but think that he didn't really want him here. Virgil had been the one to let him sit with them and ask him what was wrong. He wondered if Virgil minded being the buffer between him and Logan; the one who kept Logan from kicking Roman off the table. Maybe he ought to leave anyway - let them go back to their wonderful bestfriendship of two.

"Roman... Are you alright?"

It was so rare that Logan expressed uncertainty that Roman forced himself to smile. "Of course! I'm fine!"

Logan looked unconvinced. "Well... I just texted Virgil to ask if we could come over after school when he gets back... That is, if you'd like to?"

Roman was ecstatic. They weren't kicking him out! "I'd love to!" He snuck round to the table to squish Logan into a hug. He'd seen Virgil do it a couple of times and knew Logan loved it (though that may have just been Virgil - but Roman was determined to make them proper, real friends too!) so he knew Logan at least wouldn't mind the invasion of personal space.

Logan was surprisingly tolerant. It seemed he'd seen this coming from miles away. After about five seconds he patted Roman on the head, then wriggled expertly out of his embrace. "How do you normally get to school?" he inquired.

Roman made a face. "Bus."

Logan gave a small smirk to this response. "Well, we'll walk to Virgil's, then my sister can give you a lift. She won't mind."

Roman did a happy dance inside his head... and maybe his feet did one too.

He kept it cool by nodding at Logan. Logan gave him a knowing look, like he could see all the happy, grateful thoughts inside his head and he suddenly remembered that it had been Logan who'd said he could stay at their table permanently anyway.

He had to resist the urge to hug the nerd all over again.


End file.
